in his time he was not 'literature', it was pulp, common, 'popular'.
is Stephen King today, 'literature' or just 'pulp fiction'?
this is a subjective thing. authors that are 'popular' sometimes aren't considered 'literature'.
in your very own citation:::
"Among fellow writers, there was a range of opinions on Dickens. Poet laureate, William Wordsworth (1770–1850), thought him a "very talkative, vulgar young person", adding he had not read a line of his work, while novelist George Meredith (1828–1909), found Dickens "intellectually lacking"."
"Henry James denied him a premier position, calling him "the greatest of superficial novelists":
in his time he was not 'literature', it was pulp, common, 'popular'.
is Stephen King today, 'literature' or just 'pulp fiction'?
this is a subjective thing. authors that are 'popular' sometimes aren't considered 'literature'.
in your very own citation:::
"Among fellow writers, there was a range of opinions on Dickens. Poet laureate, William Wordsworth (1770–1850), thought him a "very talkative, vulgar young person", adding he had not read a line of his work, while novelist George Meredith (1828–1909), found Dickens "intellectually lacking"."
"Henry James denied him a premier position, calling him "the greatest of superficial novelists":